Born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario, Trebek graduated from the University of Ottawa with a degree in Philosophy. After his first decision to become a newscaster, he joined the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company), Canada's premier network in 1961. As he was working, he helped organize national news and covered a variety of special events for CBC's radio and television divisions, receiving high praise as a broadcaster who retained his poise and composure in the toughest places. Then, in 1966, he became a Canadian game show host on Reach for the Top (1965), and stayed there for the first seven years until he migrated to the United States to host his very first game show in that country, The Wizard of Odds (1973), for NBC.

Prior to being selected as the host of Jeopardy! (1984), for syndication, he came back to NBC and hosted the revamped version of Classic Concentration (1987), which was also his second hit in his almost 30 year career. On this show, he received 4 Emmy nominations, but didn't win. It was cancelled in 1991, when the network stopped making game show for daytime TV.

On May 17, 2002, Jeopardy! (1984) celebrated a milestone, the show celebrated its 4000th episode and at the same time, it received another Daytime Emmy for "Outstanding Game Show/Audience Participation", making it its 21st Emmy. Like Bob Barker, Alex Trebek had broken the world record as host of TV's #1 quiz show in the country, and he won 2 Emmy Awards and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and, this year, was described as one of the Top 10 Canadians on U.S. Television. Today, as Alex began his 19th year as the host, he remains as popular as any other quizmaster.

TRIVIA:

When he married Jean Currivan, at the ceremony he gave his wedding vow as a joke on the _"Jeopardy!" (1984)_ (qv) rule of phrasing an answer as a question by saying, "The answer is ... yes".

Owns two different homes, one in Beverly Hills and the other in the San Fernando Valley.

Was a newcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Network before becoming a game show host.

He has framed a bounced check for $49,000, which he received from a game show he worked at in the 1970s that failed.

Is fluent in English and French and speaks some German, Italian, Spanish, and Russian.

A large oak tree smashed into the garage of Trebek's Studio City, California home during a fierce wind storm. (5 January 2003)

Lived in the U.S. since 1973.

Though he's good at pronouncing words in many different languages, he has had difficulty with Welsh and Hawaiian.